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Shadows Fall - Shadows Fall - Retribution Thank you for making your wildly generous contribution to SomethingPunk.com�s metal releases of 2009. After one listen to your new album, Retribution, it�s clear that the only repeat offense you guys are guilty of is releasing quality albums. As always, the guitar work is amazing. Tracks like the instrumental opener, �The Path To Imminent Ruin,� �Still I Rise,� and �Embrace Annihilation� balance the lines of 80s thrash, metalcore, and melodic hard rock. Even the ballad, �Picture Perfect,� proves to be a song worth our time which is something that was lacking with all the metal candidates this year. In fact,... Flyleaf - Flyleaf Memento Mori Opening track, "Beautiful Bride", is a terrible song to open Memento Mori with. The riffs are boring, the vocals are lackluster, the hook is weak, and the group-singing near the end is awful. If that song was representative of the quality found on this album the band would have been in trouble. After a complete listen, though, it turns out that it is easily the worst track on the album and probably should have been completely omitted. Where that song’s riffs feel dull and lifeless, the rest of the album’s are chunky and energetic. Where Lacey’s vocals fall short on... Skillet - 5 Things You Never Know About Skillet The members of Skillet recently visited MTV to share five facts you never knew about the band. Check out the video to learn about the ladies in the group, their albums so far, and the two things the band can’t live without. The band is currently on the Awake and Alive tour with Hawk Nelson and Decyfer Down. Check out Skillets upcoming tour dates below. Skillet’s latest album, Awake, is in stores and on iTunes now! Nov 6 The Great Salt Air Salt Lake City, UtahNov 7 Paramount Theater Denver, ColoradoNov 10 Casper Events Center Casper,... Gaza - Gaza He Is Never Coming Back It’s hard to imagine a better follow-up album than Gaza’s second full-length, as He is Never Coming Back improves on basically every aspect of its predecessor, and then some. Uncompromisingly heavy, HINCB is a headtrip of riffs and breakdowns, continuing along I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die’s path of sludgy-metalcore goodness while embellishing on and enhancing every characteristic of their sound. Such as “The Meat of a Leg Joint” and “Tombless”, which has one of the best riffs you’ll hear all year, embellish out the band’s more straightforward metalcore sound, “The Astronomer” and the title track focus more... Ninetail - Ninetail - Half Truths And Hand Grenades Ninetail reigns from York Pennsylvania and have just released their sophomore album. Although I’m unfamiliar with their previous work, the promosheet did raise some expectations. Especially since they're heavily inspired by American Head Charge, Bloodsimple, Pantera and Lamb Of God. What is it with all those bands nowadays that just want to have an intro to their album? Most of the time it’s completely useless and it just adds nothing to the atmosphere on the album. Well the first track on Half Truths And Hand Grenades is no exception to this. Despite the name ‘Karma’ doesn’t add anything to the album.... Alejandro Escovedo - Alejandro Escovedo imply one of the finest singer-songwriters of his generation, Alejandro Escovedo's critical cachet has always outstripped his name recognition and commercial impact. His final studio album for Bloodshot Records, 2001's A Man Under the Influence, manages to stand out even within the context of an impossibly deep catalogue. Reissued with its original mixes and song sequence intact, Influence is supplemented by Escovedo's excellent self-penned material from the otherwise uneven Bourbonitis Blues and some additional rarities from his tenure at Bloodshot. While Influence is not an album that cries out for meddling or attempts at improvement (it's certainly among the finest... New Device - New Device (HellFire Fest 2) After a healthy dose of full on metal during the first part of the day I’m just in the mood for something a little more melodic and thankfully New Device bring it right on cue. Hailing form the South East of England they have already made an impact and are currently out on tour with Gun. They are unfortunate today in that their set clashes with the long awaited opening of the main stage, which makes for yet another disappointingly small crowd on this stage, only 30 people have stayed on and it’s a real shame as New Device turn... Lucero - Lucero - 1372 Overton Park (2009) I was approached to review the new Lucero album and I thought I would give this "new band" a shot. After doing some research on this band I have realized my mistake. This band will probably be one of those "overnight successes" that took 10 years to happen. Yes, they released their debut self-titled album in 2000 on a tiny label called Madjack. Now, 9 years later, the Tennessee-based band fronted by Ben Nichols is finally on a major label, Universal Republic to be precise, to release their eighth full-length album 1372 Overton Park. I'm not sure that's a good... Naked - Naked - Get naked They’ve done it again! Are you ready for another big helping of Scandinavian rock goodness to get your teeth into? Then let me introduce you to Naked... Naked is a Swedish melodic hard rock band taking its influence from the sleaze rock giants of the 70’s and 80’s. Made up of vocalist Petri Vehvilainen, lead guitarist Daniel Nellange, rhythm guitarist Mats Stattin, bass guitarist Anders Nyberg and drummer Anton Klaesen, the band say that their name sums up perfectly what they do - that is, pure, naked rock n’ roll. The band’s mission is to “...bring the women to hard rock again”.... Young Republic - Young Republic - Balletesque “Balletesque” is the sophomore full length album from the Tennessee six piece and it’s an intriguing mix of melodic indie, country, blues, jazzy brass (which gives the odd track a ska feel) and classical with a strong string sound. The album fizzles with energy and the influences come thick and fast; Arcade Fire, The White Stripes, Tom Waits, Arctic Monkeys, but there are older sounds too; tracks like ‘Sam Clemens’ sounds like Jack White doing The Beatles with a string accompaniment. The record is full of lovely classical arrangements and this combination with the brass and the more contemporary sound of... |
